


Pining is life

by Ace_Disaster



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, And they get hugs, Everyone Needs A Hug, F/M, I'm Bad At Tagging, Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist Wears a Skirt, M/M, Multi, Nonbinary Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Polyamory, Sasha owns the braincell, Sharing a Bed, Texting, The Mechanisms Were Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist's College | University Band, They/Them Pronouns for Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Trans Martin Blackwood, communication is hard but they're trying their best, eventual polycule, everyone is pining, getting attacked by a shelf, group chats, i have no idea what im doing, polycule, soft
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-12 12:33:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 11,537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28510476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ace_Disaster/pseuds/Ace_Disaster
Summary: After a promotion Jon becomes head archivist. Tim, Sasha and Martin become their assistants.A LOT of pining ensuesWill they form enough braincells to do something?
Relationships: Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist/Tim Stoker, Martin Blackwood & Sasha James, Martin Blackwood/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Martin Blackwood/Sasha James/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist/Tim Stoker, Martin Blackwood/Tim Stoker
Comments: 31
Kudos: 96





	1. Who ARE you?

**Author's Note:**

> This is basically me just wanting to write something and then this happened.  
> It will probably be mainly fluff with a tiny bit of angst but primarily just these 4 idiots realising they're in love with each other. 
> 
> Slight warning for misgendering  
> Its not intentional but Jon uses they/them pronouns but hasn't told the others  
> The others use he/him when referring to Jon. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Jon stepped into the archives, taking a deep breath, the scent of statements and a slight damp filled their head and they grimaced frowning slightly. They had a lot of work to do. But first they could find their office. Walking to the first door they could see they surveyed the current state of the three desks in the room cluttered towards the centre as the walls were covered in metal shelves stocked with yellowing pages of horror and fear. Opening the door he found a small kitchen fairly well stocked with a small microwave and a kettle as well as a fridge that was currently giving out a quiet hum which worried Jon slightly but they decided to leave it be for now. They could always place a request for a new one with Elias if it caused any problems.

Pushing open the second door revealed their office. A small, worn down, leather sofa was pushed against one wall opposite a rusting filing cabinet, it didn’t seem to have any locks so at least Jon wouldn’t have to go hunting for any keys. In the middle of the room a dark, wooden desk was covered in papers and folders as well as a considerable amount of dust. Jon walked over and pulled out the chair brushing off some dust and coughing as it rose into the air. They sat down and managed to clear a space for their laptop. Opening it they sighed heavily. 

The sound of the door to the archives opening made Jon turn from where they were currently trying to restore some sort of system to the papers that were all around their office. They stepped out to look into the main room towards the door that led up to the rest of the institute. They saw someone standing just inside the door, looking a little confused and fiddling with a knitted hat that he was now holding in his hands. 

“Excuse me. Can I help you?” Jon asked, stepping out of his office and walking slowly towards the man who was now visibly blushing, probably from being found sneaking around the institute.

“Oh hello.” He waved slightly. “No thank you, just finding my desk”

“Your desk?” Jon looked at the man, he was quite tall, he was wearing a knitted jumper similar to the hat and he was carrying a small satchel that looked quite old and was considerably worn. 

“Y-yes. My desk, one of those”, The stranger pointed to the three desks pushed together in the centre of the room. “W-well, I'm assuming that's where i'll be working.”

“Working? Sorry, who are you?” Jon was becoming steadily more annoyed at this strange person in their archives. He can’t work at the institute. Jon had been here 3 years and had never seen him before. Why was he being so annoying, couldn’t he just admit to sneaking around, apologise and leave already!

“Im Martin. Martin Blackwood.” Martin held out his hand to Jon who only took a small step backwards and stared harder. 

“Why are you here Martin?” 

“I work here. I’m an archival assistant.” Martin let a small note of pride slip into his voice when he said that “Who are you?”

“I’m Jon. I’m the head archivist” Jon scowled. How could Martin be one of their assistants, they had requested Tim and Sasha, that was it. They decided to talk to Elias after work about it. 

“Oh. Sorry, I didn’t realise.” 

Tim and Sasha choose that moment to burst through the door into the archives. Well, Tim burst through the door walking quickly upto Jon and sweeped them up in a hug. Jons feet were lifted slightly off the floor and Tim dropped him very ungracefully “Congrats Boss” Tim emphasized the boss smiling widely at Jon who grimaced.

“Thank you Tim.” 

Sasha walked considerably calmer after Tim, walking up to Jon and patting their arm softly “Well done”.

“Thank you Sasha” Jon smiled a little, they still felt a little guilty, they knew Sasha had wanted this promotion but Elias had given it to them instead but they still tried to look happy for themself. In the commotion of Tims’ entrance Jon had almost forgotten Martin. 

“Who’s this?” Tim asked walking towards Martin 

“I’m Martin, i’m new. Elias said I was working down here.” He shook Tims' offered hand and smiled slightly. He silently hoped that he would be working more closely with the other assistants rather than the mean looking head archivist who had only greeted him with harsh words and looks so far. 

“Nice to meet you” Sasha pushed Tim aside slightly and shook Martin's hand as well. 

“Well now everyones met, you can all find your desks and I'll just get something from my office, then I can brief you all on my plan to organise this place.” 

As Jon walked away the other three looked around the archive properly for the first time. The shelves of paper and old leather books were piled high, messily shoved in, leaving the whole place looking very disheveled.  
“Sheesh” Tim remarked echoing Martin and Sashas thoughts exactly. They walked towards the desks. Tim pulled the desks away from each other a little so that each of them would have some space. He scowled slightly at the screech from the legs grinding against the floor but, he quickly righted himself again, brushed the dust off his chair, and sat down, swinging his legs up onto the table and looking very pleased with himself and his new place.

Sasha and Martin sat at the remaining two desks and they all started to take their laptops out clearing a place on their desks and shuffling the other mess so that their desks resembled a somewhat usable work space. 

Jon came back out of their office holding a small pile of three manila folders. Each had a few stapled papers stuffed inside. He walked over to the three of them and started handing out the folders. Martin noticed that his folder was a little smaller than Tim and Sashas but he decided not to mention it in case Jon got even more fed up with him. 

Jon pulled an old looking chair over to the desks and sat, starting to discuss his plans. Martin was largely distracted by Jons long hair which was streaked with strands of grey. Martin couldn’t figure out whether he had dyed it grey on purpose or if it had simply turned that way from stress. Certainly not age, he still looked young even if he did look like he hadn’t slept or eaten in days. 

Martin was vaguely aware that Tim and Sasha were nodding along and actively agreeing with whatever Jon was saying but Martin was just too entranced in Jon’s face to listen to his boring plan. Something about statement organisation, sort by date and whether it records digitally or not.

When Jon asked whether or not Martin understood when he turned to leave Martin nodded quickly, snapping back to reality and realising he didn’t really have any idea what he had to do. That wasn’t really a new feeling, lying on his CV meant that he wasn’t really qualified for whatever he was supposed to be doing anyway. 

Martin somehow made it through the day, he didnt’ see Jon again however. He nearly offered Tim and Sasha a cup of tea when he came back from his lunch but decided against it when he saw them deep in conversation and decided to leave them unbothered as he slipped quietly into his chair and turned back to his work. 

At the end of the day Jon didn’t come out of his office or make any move to suggest he would be leaving any time soon. Martin felt mildly worried about his well being then told himself that it was none of his business what Jon did and decided against checking in on him.

Martin waved a small goodbye to Tim and Sasha who both replied happily enough, of course they were only happy to see him go. They must be glad that he was finally leaving them alone after he had been around all day.

Somewhere deep down in himself Martin tried to convince himself that he was being mean to himself, that they probably didn’t hate him after one day of knowing him and they were just happy because they were talking to each other, but Martin had pushed that small voice down years ago.


	2. drunk shenanigans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sasha convinces everyone to go out for drink  
> Less convinces more drags 
> 
> Drunk stuff happens 
> 
> CW:  
> Alcohol mention  
> Unintentional misgendering (Jon uses they/them for themself but they haven't told anyone else the others use he/him)

Sasha was at her desk when she came up with the idea. Martin was in the breakroom making everybody a cup of tea which had quickly become his role when they had all found out how good his tea was. Tim sat opposite Sasha reading through some notes that Jon had left him. She smiled to herself, “Hey Tim, we should go out and get some drinks after work today” 

He didn’t look up from his work when Sasha proposed her idea, they had gone out plenty of times before “Sure, our usual bar?” 

“Yeah, and we should invite Jon and Martin.” 

Tim looked up after she said that, he blushed softly at the thought of seeing Jon and Martin drunk. He had only known Martin for a week but he couldn’t help but think that he was quite cute and Sasha knew how Tim thought of Jon. “umm, yeah sure. Why not.”  
He turned back to his work trying to hide his blush and his panic from Sasha, though he suspected she knew exactly what she was doing. 

“Good, I’ll go ask Martin now then I can ask Jon at lunch.” 

Sasha promptly stood up and made her way to the breakroom.

“Hey Martin” She glided beside him and sat on the counter 

“Hi” He handed her a cup of tea, Sasha just held it in her hands knowing it was too hot for her to drink yet, that was fine, she wanted to talk to Martin first.

“Me and Tim are going out for drinks after work today. I was wondering whether you wanted to come as well” 

Martin lit up at the invitation smiling happily at his coworkers wanting to include him in something, “Y-yeah i’d love to” He blushed realising Sasha probably thought his excitement at such a small work related thing was a bit weird. “That’d be good, thank you”

“Okay cool. Well can all walk there together, it’s not very far away from the institute”

She left with her and Tims tea. “Okay so Martins coming now I've just got to convince Jon.” She dropped Tims mug onto his desk and stared resolutely at Jons office door drawing up her battle plan to drag Jon away from his work.

\--

After doing the rest of her mornings work, typing up research and calling some people Sasha decided that it was time for her lunch break. She waged that Jon had finished recording by now, he only usually did one a day and it had been at least 3 hours since he asked not to be disturbed. 

She walked determinedly up to Jon's office and knocked twice, sharply on his door. After hearing some sort of affirmative noise coming from inside she pushed the door open. 

She sat down on the sofa opposite Jons desk where he was currently surrounded by papers and folders “Hey boss. We’re going out for drinks after work today. And you’re coming with us.” 

She stared Jon down, daring him to disagree with him. “I really shouldn’t, i’ve got lots to do” 

“Nonsense”, Sasha jumped in before Jon could start rambling off everything he had to do, “Your papers will still be here tomorrow, take a break Jon.”

They looked down at their desk measuring up the pros and cons of leaving the rest of their work for tomorrow, of course they still had the rest of the afternoon so they could always rap up what they were doing then finish everything else tomorrow. It was true, they probably did need a break, they sat for a little while longer to annoy Sasha then looked up “Fine, i’ll come. Only if the rest of you finish up all the work you’re supposed to do today first.” they sighed.

“Oh yeah, i’ve already done everything you wanted today.”

“Oh, right okay then.” They had forgotten that Sasha was actually quite competent and more qualified than them. Of course she was very productive and finished everything already. “Well if you could just make sure that Tim is done then that’s fine”

“Martins coming as well.” Sasha stared at them like they were silly for not knowing that already, “I’ll make sure hes done as well.” With that she left, satisfied with herself. 

“Oh god” Jon quietly said to themself. What had they gotten themself into, drinking with their coworkers, and Martin. For some reason Martin was worse than just Tim and Sasha. Jon reasoned with themself that it was just because he was new and they’d gotten drunk in front of Sasha and Tim before. 

\--

The afternoon went by way too quickly in Jons opinion. They had only just finished what they'd wanted to get done when Sasha burst into their office, excusing herself from knocking to drag them out of their chair. They just managed to grab their bag and coat from where they had hung them as Sasha ushered them out of their office. 

“Right, everyone ready to go”, she looked around, everyone had their coats on so she decisively walked forwards.

“Onwards to drinks!” she shouted as she pointed up the stairs to the main institute. 

That got a small chuckle out of Martin and smiles from Jon and Tim. 

All four of them trapezed out of the institute and soon they were walking along the streets and towards Tim and Sashas favourite bar. 

Once everyone had sat down at one of the booths and had a drink in front of them the conversation started to flow. Admittedly it was rather stilted at first but then as everyone got some alcohol in their systems the talk began to come easier and they all settled into companionable chatter. 

Tim was the first to become obviously drunk, he started talking louder and waving his hands around a bit more than he usually would. He was in the middle of talking about something that Jon had missed the first part of but they had decided was something to do with an adventure zone, whatever that was. All three of them were looking at Tim when Jon felt themself get dizzy so they lent sideways somewhat, aiming to lean against the side of the booth to stabilise themself. Instead they found they were pressed against something warm and woolen? In a mortifying moment they realised the warmth was Martin and the wool his knitted jumper. Somehow they’d lent the wrong way and were now somewhat cuddled against their new coworker. As startled as they were about being so close to Martin they were too tired to move and decided that instead of risking drawing more attention to themself they stayed where they were. Eventually they felt Martin relax slightly under their head which was when they realised that Martin was slightly uncomfortable to begin with. Jon reasoned with themself that although they hadn’t noticed before, Martin had now relaxed so they decided to stay put. 

When Tim and Sasha both yawned in unison everyone agreed that they should probably head home as it was getting late. Technically it was getting early but Jon deigned to leave it unmentioned. 

Everyone promised to text when they had gotten home safe and with that they each got into a taxi as no one was sober enough to walk home.

\--

Archives 

Bossman : Home safe. Thanks for the drinks. 

QueenMom : Home too, see you all on monday 

HawaiinShirt : home night guys 

BringerOfTeas : im home, see yall on monday 

HawaiinShirt : see, whys he allowed to say yall unironically and im not!

QueenMom : Go to sleep Tim!!

\--

@Sasha.j to @Timothy.s

SIMP : I want to say yall 

PenStealer : NO

PenStealer : Go to sleep 

SIMP : I dont want toooooooo

SIMP : Did you see how cute jon and martin were?

SIMP : He was LEANING on him. I wanted to explode 

PenStealer : Yeha i definitely didnt see you staring at them 

SIMP : Hey! I was looking respectfully

PenStealer : Sure. Now go to sleep!

PenStealer : And drink some water

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Boss - Jon  
> QueenMom - Sasha  
> HawaiinShirt - Tim  
> BringerOfTeas - Martin 
> 
> SIMP - Tim  
> PenStealer - Sasha 
> 
> Hope you enjoy the new chapter 
> 
> Please comment if you see anything wrong  
> Or even if you have anything to say, i'd love to hear it 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading and leaving kudos


	3. texting and simping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the gangs texts and simps over the weekend after their night out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy the new chapter 
> 
> As always there's a mild warning for misgendering towards Jon which will continue until they come out.  
> Which i promise will happen eventually

Archives

HawaiinShirt : Mornin!!

QueenMum : Tim!! How are you already awake its  
QueenMum : 11:09.  
QueenMum : OK. But surely your hungover

HawaiinShirt : yep! But I was up so its your problem

Bossman : Tim go back to sleep

BringerOfTeas : yes Tim sleep plz

HawaiinShirt : welp everyone's already awake so no turning back  
HawaiinShirt : I leave you awake and say  
HawaiinShirt : GOODBYE

Bossman : thank you Tim now I'm up with a hangover and can't get back to sleep  
Bossman : much appreciated

\--

@Sasha.j to @Timothy.s

PenStealer : You are so mean

PenStealer : I can't believe you woke everyone up then left

SIMP : Well I was going to say something but then everyone turned up and I deigned not too

PenStealer : ohhhhhh  
PenStealer : what were you going to say?  
PenStealer : something to do with simping for Jon

SIMP : you shall not know.  
SIMP : Goodbye again

\--

Tim rolled over in his bed with a sigh. Why couldn't he just say it! "I had a really nice night thanks." It was simple, and so stupid that Tim couldn't just say it. And now he couldn't even tell sasha because she'd make fun of him for being to scared to just say that he enjoyed hanging out with his friends.

Granted she knew that two of those friends were mild crushes. Still, Tim basked in the knowledge she only thought they were mild.

In truth Tim was well and truly 'smitten'.

\--

Over the weekend Jon recovered from their hangover and managed to get some of the work that they'd brought home with them done.

It wasn't much but it counted towards tackling the mess of an archives.

When Jon wasn't working or trying to unpack the last of their few boxes from their recent move they sat on the sofa with a hot cup of tea.

Of course it wasn't as nice as Martins tea was. He always seemed to be able to make it exactly how you wanted. Jon wondered how he knew their preferences when they never actually recalled telling Martin.

Jon continued to think about Martin as they sat on their sofa. Thinking of Martin led to thinking of last night. They remembered vaguely getting drunk and at one point ending up snuggled next to Martin. Jon blushed lightly at the memory of Martins soft jumper. They wondered whether Martin had knitted it himself. They'd have to ask one day.

They also remembered staring at Tim as he talked excitedly about whatever came to mind. A light flush on his cheeks from the drinks.

As Jon sat there, their cup of tea slowly cooling they thought over last night. Trying to analyse their feelings.

A warm feeling settled in their stomach when they thought about how they had cuddled up next to Martin and his warm presence, grounding them admit the cocophany of noise that a bar on a Friday always presented.

They smiled at the picture of Tim, expressively waving his arms around as he talked about his interests. Sasha watching him, just as invested in whatever he was talking about as she smiled. Tim and Sasha had taken over most of the conversation, something Jon now felt thankful for as they guessed that had they had the opportunity to talk the night may have been a lot more embarrassing for everyone.

Going back to work would be fun now that they had feelings for all their coworkers.

\--

Martin woke up slowly, going through his usual routine as he showered, and dressed. He pulled on his comfiest jumper, deciding to leave his binder off for now.

He wandered into the kitchen too make himself some tea. Deciding that he deserved it he returned to his bedroom with his mug and settled back down under the covers with his phone.

He found the texts from the others and chuckled softly as he joined in.

His face coloured as he remembered last night. Jon's face pressed against his shoulder as he panicked, trying to focus on Tim's speech and not the soft whisper of Jon's hair, lightly streaked with grey.

\--

Sasha laughed at Tim through her phone.

@Sasha.j to @Timothy.s

PenStealer : Sooo...  
PenStealer : Are we going to talk about Jon  
PenStealer : or Martin

SIMP : ...  
SIMP : no

PenStealer : ohhhh come on  
PenStealer : please

SIMP : no  
SIMP : He's just so cute

PenStealer : :)  
PenStealer : wait who. Martin or Jon

SIMP : Both of them!!!  
SIMP : it's just  
SIMP : they're both so cute!

PenStealer : I know!

SIMP : did you see how he was leanig on Martins shoulder and just being all snuggly and cute! And then Martin was blushing like anything!! I bet he was panicking so much :D And you could see the pure concentration on his face of trying not to implode.  
SIMP : And then I just had to try and keep talking because if I stopped then it would be clear how much I was looking at them. And by the end of the night i just had no idea what I was talking about. Good thing I don't think either of them were actually listening to me because they definitely would've thought I was just talking nonsense by the end of it.

PenStealer : wow  
PenStealer : that was long  
PenStealer : though I may agree.

SIMP : oy!! You can't call me a simp then go and simp yourself

SIMP renamed PenStealer to SIMPER

SIMPER : OY!!

SIMP : You deserve it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully you enjoyed this chapter   
> Sorry that it's a little shorter than usual the next chapter will hopefully be longer.  
> Thank you so much for all of the kudos and comments so far!  
> Your support really helps my motivation!


	4. i know

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> :)

After a well earned restful weekend everyone came back to work on monday feeling just as tired as when they had left on friday evening. Jon arrived first, they quickly made their way to their office and settled down. Pulling the statements out of their bag that they had been researching over the weekend they added them to the growing mess on their desk and sat down with a sigh. 

This would be a long day, might as well get started, so they began to go through the new folder that had appeared on their desk most likely put there by Elias so Jon decided to record the new statement before any of their assistants showed up. That would be in at least an hour as Jon always turned up to work quite ridiculously early. 

Jon was heavily engrossed in their work when Martin arrived but the oddly loud echoing sound of the door to the archives swinging shut pulled Jon out of their stupor. Jumping slightly at the noise they turned to see who had come in. Seeing Martins head through the small window in their office door they quickly spun back around pretending to focus on their work in front of them and not the soft sight of Martin.

\--

Martin expected Jon to already be at work but when he walked into the archives and spotted Jons slumped figure through the dirty office window reading something and he didn't turn to see who had walked into he took a few steps back and opened then closed the door again with a little more force this time.

With the slightly louder noise Jon turned sharply and just as swiftly turned back to his work. Well, at least he knew Martin was there and he wouldn't surprise the poor man if he ever decided to come out of his office expecting the archives to be empty. 

Martin quickly set himself up at his desk trying to get a head start on his work before Tim and Sasha arrived as he always seemed to take a bit longer to do things than they did but that was to be expected from his lack of real qualifications. 

He had made a sufficient start into his work when Tim showed up hand in hand with Sasha. They made a start when they saw Martin was already at his desk they quickly let go of each other and made their way quietly to their desks. 

“Good morning, how are you?” Martin looked up from his work to see both Tim and Sasha blushing profusely.

“Fine, good, yep, what about you?” Tim quickly spat out, turning an even deeper shade of red that perplexed Martin even more. 

“I'm good, thanks?” A quizzical tone crept into his voice at his confusion with Tims action. 

“Good, good” Tim sat down at his desk and quickly turned to his work. He hadn’t thought Martin would already be in. Which didn’t make much sense as he usually was but in the haze of the weekend his mind had completely forgotten Martin.

\--

That weekend, after texting a bit on Saturday, Sasha had asked to come over to his flat. Tim quickly tidied a bit as Sasha made her way over and sat nervously, a little confused. Sasha came around plenty enough but usually it was after work for a takeout dinner, this was more sudden and it worried Tim.

Eventually Sasha arrived, knocking at Tims door before opening it and coming in. She looked almost as nervous as Tim felt. He sat down on the sofa and she followed his lead sitting beside him facing him awkwardly.

“Hey, are you alright?” 

“Y-yeah. I just had to ask you something” 

“Ok, sure. What is it?”

“I’ve been thinking about this for quite a long time now and i’ve been scared to talk to you about it because i’m not sure how you're going to react, but here goes i guess.” She breathed deeply facing fully towards 

“I know that you like Martin a-and Jon, I know we’ve talked about them alot and I know how you feel for them. I understand that you might not reciprocate this at all and that's fine, absolutely fine i just had to tell you, get it off my chest.”

Sasha's eyes were watering slightly now. “ You’ve told me before that you’re poly and I know that you have so much love that you love everyone that you're friends with. I know we’ve been friends for years which is why this is even harder. I just, I love you. I love you as a friend but, but I love you as more as well.”

Tim sat in stunned silence. What had just happened? Did Sasha just? Did she just say that she loved him. He couldn’t believe this was happening. He and Sasha had been friends for years, ever since he had joined the magnus institute. 

“I know, I know that you probably just want me to go and I will, just. I need to make sure that you know I love you but even though you probably don’t love me back like that I still want to be friends with you. I really hope you don’t hate me because i would ..”

She stuttered to a stop, Tim hadn't said anything. He hadn’t moved since she had started speaking. Sasha was beginning to doubt that he had even breathed. “Tim. Tim are you al..” 

He cut her off “N..no” he looked right into her eyes 

“W-what, I-I mean I’m sorry, I know that..”

“No. Stop.” Tim was more steady this time, he looked more sure of himself.

Sasha stopped talking and looked at Tim, he was avoiding her eyes processing everything through his mind. 

“Sasha I … Can I kiss you?”

Sasha couldn’t talk, she wasn’t quite sure what was happening, instead she decided to nod. It was small and shy but Tim understood it.

He slowly leaned forwards until he was right in front of Sasha. Then taking a breath to summon all the confidence he could he closed the difference, their lips pressed together. The pressure grounded Sasha as she regained her thoughts and pushed back, she was kissing Tim! She had never thought that she would be able to.

He pulled back softly, cupping her face in his hand. Tim was meeting her eyes now and smiling sweetly. “I love you too” 

Sasha was so happy! Tim loved her back, he didn’t hate her. She was so happy. She surged forwards kissing Tim again and pushing him down against the sofa. She did so with so much force that they both nearly toppled off of the sofa. 

After regaining their balance they giggled, building into full laughs until their sides were aching slightly and they were cuddled together. Sasha rested her head against Tims chest underneath her. Now the rush of chemicals to her head had eased, she felt tired, sleep began to creep into the edges of her mind and she began to drift away. 

“Hey, hey” Tim tapped lightly on her shoulder pulling her back slightly into consciousness. “Cmon, let’s move” he eased her up to a sitting position then he stood and pulling Sasha up beside him led them towards his bedroom.

“There, lie down here.” he quickly made his way over to his closet pulling to rather oversized jumpers out and a soft pair of jogging bottoms. “Here, you can put this on if you want, i'm just going to change in the bathroom” 

After pressing a soft kiss to Sashas forehead he disappeared into the bathroom and Sasha quickly stripped her shirt off and pulled the sweater over her head. It was soft and comfy, well worn and smelled faintly of Tim. 

Her leggings would be fine to sleep in so she folded her short up and placed it on a chair near the bedroom door and slipped into the bed. 

Pressing her face into the pillow she could smell Tim's hair shampoo mixed with his aftershave. 

Tim came back into the room as she began to slip back to sleep. “hey.” he whispered softly, slipping in next to Sasha, pressing up against her back. His weight against her calmed her so that eventually curled around Tim, relishing in his body heat and softness she fell asleep. 

\--

They had awoken the next morning to Tim's alarm, stroking her shoulder gently he eased himself away from her and out of bed. 

“uhh.” Sasha turned to watch Tim as he stretched. The sun shone through his thin curtains filling the room with morning light. “I don't want to go to work” 

“come on, we have to. Just think of Jon's disappointed face” 

“ugh, fine” Sasha rolled over and swung her legs over the side to stand. She kissed Tim and walked over to put her shirt back on, trying to make herself as presentable as possible. 

“I still can't believe this”

“I know!” She kissed Tim on his lips before turning to try and find some breakfast in the kitchen. He followed her, wrapping himself around her as she looked through the fridge for something to eat. 

“There’s some cereal in the cupboard” 

Sasha made them both a bowl of cereal with Tim wrapped around her torso the entire time. He reluctantly disentangled himself so that they could both sit at the table opposite each other. 

“I was so scared” Sasha smiled into her breakfast “I thought if you did like me then you would've said something already! You always talked about how you like people and you had just never mentioned me so I assumed you just didn’t.” 

“Well, good thing you were wrong then.” Tim smiled back at Sasha.

Once both of them had finished eating they finished getting ready for work and left. They walked in comfortable silence, their hands slipping together as they negotiated the growing crowds as the morning rush slowly picked up. 

They were still holding hands when they walked into the Magnus institute and it felt so natural, like it was a small puzzle piece that had been missing for too long and now that it was in place Tim wondered how he’d ever live without it. 

After getting slightly flustered when Martin saw them all three of them settled quietly into their daily routines. Jon came out of his office a few times, placing statements and paper files on one of their desks then returning to his office.

Sasha and Tim decided to go out for lunch during their break. What Tim called their first date. 

Martin sat quietly in the breakroom as Jon stayed hidden in his office neglecting to take care of himself as Martin thought disapprovingly of his habits. 

Everyone fell into the quiet domesticity and their lives went on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy the chapter   
> Slightly longer than usual because i got carried away
> 
> Please continue to leave kudos and comments i really appreciate them and they keep me motivated!  
> Thank you


	5. Ow!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jon injures himself and Martin helps.

It was Wednesday when the loud crash came from Jons office. Tim and Sasha had returned from their lunch break an hour ago and were sitting together on the sofa in the breakroom whilst Martin made tea for all of them when the noise rang through the hallways followed by a yelp. 

Martin automatically looked towards the door, quickly putting down the hot kettle and running out, down the corridor until he stopped outside the door to Jons office. Tim and Sasha followed. 

“Jon! Jon are you okay?” Martin knocked on the door

A disgruntled moan came from inside which Martin took as an invite to come in. If Jon couldn’t yell at him to go away then something must be wrong. 

With a bit of effort Martin managed to push into the office, instantly seeing what had made the door hard to open in the first place. The rickety metal shelves that held a large amount of boxes piled high with statements were currently lying sideways on the ground. 

Next to it Jon sat, pushed up against the back wall holding his head in one hand curled up on himself. 

“Jon!” Martin knelt down next to Jon, hesitating to touch him.

“What happened? A-are you okay?” He placed his hand gently on Jons wrist pulling it away carefully to get a look at his head. 

A small gash on his forehead was bleeding slightly staining Jons hand with his blood. 

“Ow!” Jon recoiled as Martin tenderly sweeped away some hair that had fallen over the cut 

“Sorry, sorry. Hey Tim, could you get some wipes and a plaster from the first aid kit in the breakroom please?” Martin glanced back at Sasha and Tim who were standing in the doorway, they both looked worried but Tim quickly fixed his face when he saw everyone staring at him. 

“Yeah, yeah sure, back in sec”

“Does anything else hurt Jon, other than your head?” 

“Umm, my arm, I think, I tried to hold the shelves up and it kind of bent it back. I don’t think it’s broken, just hurts, it’s fine.”

“Okay, alright.” Martin relaxed a little at hearing Jon had no other serious injuries. 

Tim returned then, clutching some antiseptic wipes and some plasters of varying shapes and sizes. “Sorry, wasn’t sure how big it was so I just got a few.”

“Thanks Tim” Martin began to clean Jons wound, he hissed slightly when Martin first started cleaning around the edges but quickly quieted. 

“What did you do Jon?” Sasha spoke up now, leaning against the doorframe, still looking worriedly down at Jon, he looked so small curled up on the floor. Sasha had always noticed he was scrawny but now she saw just how small he was. 

“Well, I-I was trying to get a box because I needed to check one of the statement givers names but it was in one of the higher ones. And, well, I tried to reach it but I overbalanced the shelves and they fell. One of the boxes slid out and hit me in the head” He gestured at where Martin was now sticking a plaster to his forehead. 

“Why didn’t you just come and ask one of us for help?” 

“Because I don’t need your help!” Jon burst out, they scowled then winced as it pulled on the plaster. All three of them just kept staring at them. Why couldn’t they just leave them alone! They were fine! It was just a cut, they didn’t need to make a fuss of them.

They cooled slightly, the cold floor and the steady pain from their arm grounding them slightly. 

“I’m sorry Tim. I’m just tired. You can all go now… Thank you” They slowly picked themselves up and sat down on the other side of their desk, blinking away the small stars that briefly swam through their vision. 

“Okay, it’s alright. Just...be careful boss”

“I will thank you.”

Martin Tim and Sasha all left, returning to their desks and getting on with their work for the day in silence. 

Jon sat in their office, head resting on their table as they tried to collect themself. 

“Right OK. I need to finish my work but I can't do that without the file which is currently somewhere in this mess” 

Jon talked quietly to themself, surveying the mess that their office was now in. 

“OK, umm… PuPut the shelves up first then I can collect all the papers up, sort them into boxes, label the boxes, put them back on the shelf. Then I can do my work” 

Before starting anything though, first Jon sat down at their desk, pulled up their notepad and made a list. 

Lists were good. They organised their thoughts simply, easy to look at. Once they'd written the list they knew exactly what they needed to do and then could go through it one by one. 

Making the list calmed them, pushed away the overwhelming feelings when they'd started to survey the mess. 

Once done Jon set about their tasks. Knowing they were going to sort through it later they pushed all of the loose papers and boxers to the side of the room so that the shelves were clear and they could push them up easily enough. 

The shelves were admittedly quite heavy but Jon managed. Pushing themself up under them and slowly standing, levering them until they were upright then pushing them against the wall. 

Quickly checking upright shelves off their list they moved on to sifting through the papers now shoved up at the edges of the office. 

They efficiently sorted them by year, each year with its own pile, then they sorted each year pile into months then days.

They pulled over a box and put a year's worth of statements in them, from January to December. Then they moved into the next year.

Soon they were surrounded by full boxes bursting with papers each scribbled on a black pen with the year and a dwindling pile of statements from the earlier years 

Apparently though they had focused so much on organising the statements the passage of time had sped by them. 

They were lifted from their stupor when a light knock came from the door. Martin stood in the doorway, they'd obviously forgotten to close it once everyone had left because they were too focused on tidying the office. 

“Hey, we’re all heading home now. Just wanted to check that you were alright” 

Wanting to be a least a little truthful Jon took stock of their self. Their head had been gently throbbing as they sorted through the statements, it haddn't gotten worse since the box had hit him but then it hadn't gotten any better either. 

"I-I'm fine thanks. Well, my head hurts a bit but I'm fine really. Thanks, you can go home" 

Jon smiled at him slightly. God he loved that smile. 

However he also knew that after a head injury there was a risk of concussion. He was worried for Jon. The cut hadn't looked that bad when he had cleaned it up but you never know. 

"umm... Would, would you want to come home with me?" 

Jon looked at him in surprise

"it's just I'm kind of worried about your head. You know concussion all that, don't really Wang to leave you alone tonight. Just in case." Martin was nervously wringing his hands now, staring resouloutly at his feet, waiting for Jon to reject him angrily and send him away. He did not expect the soft voice that came next. 

"Y-yes, I'd like that. Thank you. Just give me a minute to get my stuff. I'll meet you outside." He smiled softly. 

"Sure." Martin quickly turned before Jon could see the bright blush that was covering his face. He rushed to his desk grabbed his bag and walked up to the reception to wait for Jon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this took so long to update. I've been pretty busy with school work.
> 
> Thank you for all of the Kudos and comments! And thank you especially for reading!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Martin and Jon hang out in the aftermath of Jon's fight with the shelves.

Jon was quick at getting up to the reception so it was only 10 minutes later when Martin and Jon headed off for the tube station. They jumped on a train and sat silently amongst the bustle of commuters until Martins stop. 

“Sorry, there's a bit of a walk from him.”  
“That’s fine, i guess it's nice to get some air after being down in the archives all day”

Any icy wind swirled around them as they hurried along, quickly walking, trying to conserve as much heat from the stuffy train as they could before they lost it and froze. As they walked down the street towards Martin's flat they were pressed tightly together. 

Both of them were shivering slightly by the time the finally collapsed into martins flat. With numb faces and hands the painstakingly striped layers of coats and scarves as they warmed up. 

“I’m going to make some tea. Do you want some? It’ll help you warm up?”

“Yeah, sure, thank you.” 

Martin headed into the kitchen rubbing his hands together. Jon heard the gush of the tap as the kettle was filled then a soft click as it began to boil. 

Jon slumped down onto the sofa, breathing deeply and filling their lungs with the calming scent of Martin's home. 

Martin came back into the living room with two steaming cups of tea.

“Here, careful it’s hot”

Jon accepted the tea looking at Martin with an expression that said that of course he knew it would be hot, he’d drunk tea before but was also filled with a very cute look that may have just been happiness. Martin doubted he’d seen Jon look so happy before. 

“So, umm, do you have any preference for dinner? I was going to have pizza but if you don't want to and can find something else?”

“Pizzas fine, thank you Martin.”

“Ok, cool, i’ll order it in a minute. The pizza place isn’t far from here so it won’t take long to be delivered.” He sunk down into the armchair looking across at Jon. He was huddled in on himself, clutching the warm cup of tea. His face was still slightly pink from the biting wind they had fought against to get home 

“A-are you warm enough? I think I have some blankets in here somewhere if you're cold. It was pretty wind out there and you're not exactly the most insulated, being mainly skin and bones you know.”

Martin started to stand from his armchair to look for the fluffy blanket he was sure he owned that must be lying around somewhere. 

“No, no. I'm fine, really, thank you though.”

“ If you say so” Martin sat back down, clutching a pillow on his lap.   
“How was your day today?”

“Well apart from getting hit by a shelf it was alright. Elias didn’t call me up to his office so i call that a win. Getting tired of having to update him on the ‘Current status of the archives’. I don’t even know what he wants to know. ‘Oh, yeah, since you last checked three days ago I've finished sorting all of the thousands of messed up statements into chronological order and now there all in nice and tidy boxes, all recorded for you.’ Ughh, sorry i shouldn’t be moaning about him like this. He’s my boss, I guess he’s got to know what i’ve been doing.”

“Don’t worry about it, guys a jerk. No normal boss would ask you what you’re doing that often, I think he’s just mad at the state Gertrude left the place and is taking it out on you. You don’t deserve it, you work really hard. I mean you hardly leave, you only do half the time because one of us drags you out.” 

Jon laughed feebly, “Yeah. That's fair. Honestly, I probably wouldn’t have gone home today if you hadn’t asked. But then you did and you made such a convincing argument i just couldn't turn you away” He chuckled and Martin thought he looked cute. “Also, Georgie also said I was prone to collapsing so it’s probably a good thing for me to have some supervision right now.” 

“Yeah, you have collapsed quite a lot. Definitely more than any healthy person.”

“Huh, yeah.” Jon turned back to stare into his mug 

“I’ll, umm, i’ll order the pizza now yeah?”

“Sure”

Martin pulled his phone out of his pocket “They’re quite big, usually i only eat half and save the rest for lunch or another dinner later on in the week. Do you want to share?” 

“Yeah, sounds nice” 

“Cool, what topping do you want?”

“I don’t mind” 

“Shall I just get margarita then?”

“Sounds good”

“Ok” Martin clicked a few things on his phone then put it down on the coffee table in front of him “It should be here soon. They’ll ring the buzzer i can go down and get it”

Jon smiled, it was small but Martin was very good at spotting the small moments now.   
They settled into easy conversation, chatting about work, and slipping into gossip as they talked about Tim and Sasha's entrance that morning. They laughed over the new email they had all received from Elias about the dress code, addressing the informality of bright hawaiin shirts, which was very obviously directed at Tim. 

They were chuckling after each trying to guess how many garish shirts Tim actually owned when the buzzer rang through the flat startling both of them. After quickly assuring the delivery person that he would be down in a moment Martin slipped out of the door and started jogging down the stairs to retrieve their dinner.

Timedly Jon looked around. They were still pretty nervous of overstepping into Martin's personal space but they argued in their own head that as long as they didn’t touch anything or pry it would be fine. A cabinet stood in the corner of the room class cut into the doors showed that they were stuffed with a rainbow of colourful wool. On top of the cabinet amongst some framed pictures there was a pencil pot full with varying sizes of knitting needles. 

There were a number of framed photos around the flat, Jon noticed that there were few family photos, one or two pictures of Martin and an older woman but most of them were pictures of Martin, Tim and Sasha and some with Jon in them as well. He noticed the number of pictures that he wasn’t in. They should get out more, instead of just burning them self in work and hiding in their office. 

A tall bookshelf was neatly organised with rows of books, Jon couldn’t quite see them well enough to work out the titles. After noticing the discernible difference between some of the more dusty books and those that had been obviously removed and replaced frequently, Jon debated walking over to see the books that Martin liked when he came back into the flat. They could always ask him later. 

Holding the pizza in one hand after closing the door with his other, Martin placed the box on the coffee table “Here you go” before disappearing into the kitchen to grab both of them plates. 

Once he returned he sat on the sofa next to Jon and pulled the box towards them both, separating a slice for himself he then gestured for Jon to do the same. Hesitating to grab their own slice Jon was blushing furiously from the natural proximity of Martin. They were however, snapped out of their stupor as Martin scooted away to lean against the armrest.

Regaining control of their own body now they couldn’t feel the warmth radiating off of Martin Jon took their own slice and settled down to eat as well. 

Falling back into light conversation as they had been before the buzzer had rang. They debated opinions of pineapple on pizza and stuffed crust as they ate. Suddenly lighting up as an idea came to him Martin placed his plate and half eaten pizza slice on the table and stood up. 

“Do you want a drink? I think I have some alcohol somewhere in my kitchen, though I can make some tea or you could just have water if you want. I know drinking with a head injury probably isn’t the best idea but i don't think it was that bad and you seem fine,, unless of course you think..”

Martin was cut off from his ramblings as his face became steadily more red by Jon “That’d be great thanks” 

“Oh, cool. I'll go”

Both of them were now smiling dopily as Martin went back into the kitchen to pour them both drinks and Jon blushed at Martin's habit of rambling. 

When he returned Jon was slightly surprised by the two mugs “Sorry, all I had was mugs, I only have a few glasses and they all need to be washed at the moment. 

“Its fine, beats drinking alone any time”

“I'll cheers to that”

They clinked mugs together and laughed easily. 

\--

As the night got darker and the street lights steadily grew in brightness, Jon and Martin became more drunk. 

They were slightly over the line of tipsy when Jon failed to stifle a yawn, which only prompted Martin to do the same. “I should probably head home now it’s getting late and I need to be up for work today” 

“How far away is your place” 

“About half an hour from the institute by tube so probably only a little longer from here.”

“No.”

“What do you mean no, I need to go home”

“I mean no, you should stay here tonight. You probably shouldn’t go on the tube being drunk and” Martin gestured to Jon's head “You.”

“Hey!”

“I’m just saying, you're drunk, hit your head today and even you have admitted that you collapsed an awful lot. I just think it's safer for you to stay here tonight. I’ll even come in early with you tomorrow morning.”

“Fine, fine. Could i have that blanket you offered me earlier then.”

“Well sure. Do you think you’ll be cold under just a duvet?”

“Why would I be under a duvet? I'll just sleep on the sofa.” 

“Noooo, it’s ridiculously uncomfy. You’re sitting on it, can you really truthfully tell me that you want to sleep on it?” Martin looked at Jon with a smug look which showed that he knew exactly what Jon was thinking. 

“Where do you suggest I sleep instead?” Jon could play at this game too. 

“You can sleep with me. My bed’s big enough.” Shrugging like it was all fine Martin turned to leave. “You can borrow one of my jumpers to wear if you want” 

Sighing exasperatedly in an effort to show that he wasn’t fully on board “Fine. Only because I do actually get very cold at night and body heat would be nice.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not entirely happy with this chapter but i just really want to write the next chapter and basically this one was in the way.   
> Regardless, i hope you enjoy. 
> 
> As always thank you immensely for all of the kudos and comments!!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jon and Martin have a conversation in bed.
> 
> Pillow talk alert, but stubbornly platonical.

They both busied them self preparing for bed. Martin had his own bed clothes which he changed into in the bathroom before brushing his teeth. Jon went over to Martins cupboard and pulled out the softest jumper that they could find.

It was a light blue with soft white clouds and some shaggy, brown cows stood in a field. They slipped it on, neatly folding their own shirt and jumper on a chair by the bedroom door. They went and sat on the bed waiting for Martin to come back. 

After a mental pep talk to himself in the mirror Martin walked back into the bedroom, as he walked in he saw Jon perched on the edge of his bed, the large jumper hanging off him swaddling him in the soft wool. He stood frozen in the doorway staring at the soft sight of Jon in front of him. 

He was acutely aware that his mouth was hanging open, but he didn't care. He resigned himself to take in all of the softness that Jon was emanating. He’d never seen Jon ever look even close to how relaxed he was in that moment. 

Jon was slightly worried as Martin stood silently in the doorway. He was wearing a soft t-shirt and pyjama trousers. His light brown curls encircled his head in what appeared like a halo with the landing light shining through the coils. Jon was slightly drunk from the wine they had drunk with dinner and also tired, his energy drained from the day that had been more exerting than it normally was. 

“I-i umm i like the jumper” Martin managed to stammer out, he could almost feel the uncomfortableness radiating off of Jon from his ill mannered staring. 

“Well thanks for letting me borrow it.” Jon smiled. They patted the space next to them on the bed inviting Martin over, it was silly really inviting Martin to sit on his own bed but they feared that if they didn’t then he would continue to silently stare at them as they squirmed under the uncomfortable gaze. 

Martin sat on the bed and toed off his cow slippers, he scooted further to the centre of the bed and pulled the covers up around him as Jon did the same. He had only had one pillow on his bed which he normally used so Jon had brung a pillow in from the living room. 

Now they were lying opposite each other, staring into the other's eyes. And Jon had a sudden burst of confidence. 

Maybe it was the wine, or maybe it was the quiet intimacy of being that close to someone who deep down you know that you would trust with anything. For a second Jon averted their eyes away from where they had been staring into Martins gathering their thoughts.

They struggled to sleep most nights so they had spent many of those sleepless concocting various ways of telling someone. They had put years of thought into what would be the best way to explain themselves. Even after all of that they couldn’t quite get the words together.

“Can. Can I tell you something?” They turned back to resume eye contact, Martin had been staring at them the entire time they had been staring at the ceiling. 

“Yeah sure. What is it?” Martin's face was clearly now showing his worry, Jon hated making him fret over nothing so reassured him.

“It's nothing bad. Well it's probably not bad.”

“I know you meant to say that to reassure me but it did not work.” He chuckled despite feeling like Jon was going to tell him something really bad and the feeling of worry twisting low in his gut. 

“Sorry. Sorry. Ok, well, i-i know not everyone gets it but i trust you and i don't trust many people but i’ve realised recently that i want to trust you, because you’ve always helped me out and i want to help you as well. It's just hard, hardly ever in my life have i trusted someone enough to tell them this, but i think i trust you enough” 

Jon was wringing their hands together now, trying to formulate their thoughts enough to prevent themselves from babbling about everything that came into their mind in the moment.

After a minute which felt like an hour they took a deep breath in “I’m non-binary” 

“Oh, yeah that's cool. Thanks for telling me. So do you use they/them pronouns?” Martin let out the breath he had been holding, he was so afraid Jon was going to tell him something way worse than that. But this was fine, this was easy. 

Martin could feel small tendrils of guilt about every time he had unknowingly misgendered Jon. However, those thoughts were pushed away by the look of pure relief and happiness that was now on Jon's face. He,, no they looked so relieved to have got that off their chest.

He knew what that was like, to have to keep something as important as who you are from the people that you care about. He also knew the pain that came when someone rejected who you are for their own image of you. Jon had answered with a soft yeah after Martin had asked about their pronouns.

“That's so great that you told me, thank you.”

They both just lay there for a while, Jon could almost physically feel the weight that had been lifted from their chest at how well Martin had taken it.

“Since this seems to be the time for sharing stuff, can i tell you something?” Martin broke the silence with his question. 

“After taking my news that well you can say anything”

“It is not that hard to just be happy that someone told you who they are. Mine is not quite as good as my identity, and you don't have to do anything about it and I totally understand if it makes you uncomfortable. For about a year now i’ve had a crush on you..” Martin had to turn to stare at the ceiling just as Jon had been doing not very long ago, he couldn’t face to look them in the eyes right now. “I guess it sort of started when I started at the archives, but then you were quite mean to me and I just pushed it down, kept telling myself that I couldn't like someone that was that unkind to me. But recently you’ve been much nicer to me and I just thought you had the right to know.”

“Martin, thank you for telling me, but you know we really can’t do anything right?” They had an almost mournful look on their face, “It's bad enough that Tim and Sasha are dating. I mean I'm happy for them but they’re coworkers, I can't help but look to the future. If they break up or something happens, it would affect everyone. Let alone us, I'm your boss Martin, I don't even think. I'm sorry but I don't, I don't feel the same way.”

Jon winced internally at turning down Martin, he was lovely. Even when he had first started   
And Jon had been so mean, he would always bring them a cup of tea in the mornings. They hated having to say things that they knew weren’t true, saying that they didn’t feel the same way that a relationship between them would be entirely inappropriate. Well that part was right, they were his boss. 

A relationship would never work but deep down Jon knew they were just making excuses.   
They couldn’t face their feelings, they just wanted to focus on their work and stay out of anything that could hinder that and that would be exactly what a relationship between them self and Martin would do.

And anyway, even if Jon could even consider dating Martin, that would be letting him into a whole other part of his life. The parts which only Georgie had ever really seen, luckily Martin had taken them being non-binary well, but everything else was that, something else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed the chapter.   
> A sprinkle of what i hope is angst.
> 
> As always thank you soo much for all the kudos and comments.   
> They keep me writing! :) 
> 
> Cant wait to write more of these idiots!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little sprinkling of communication and a happy Jon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy the new chapter!  
> One of my longer ones.   
> Enjoy!

Jon rarely slept through the night. Often, if they managed to fall asleep in the first place, losing their thoughts to unconsciousness then they would wake, sweating and trembly more than once from horrid nightmares during the night. 

Jon had developed the habit of putting off sleep to avoid the nightmares wherever they could. Working through the night with statements that they had brought home or just watching rubbish television when their eyes were too blurry to read the scrawny handwriting of statements. 

This would more often than not lead to them eventually passing out on the sofa whenever their body finally gave in and forced them to sink into the deep oblivion of their mind. Forcing them into the nightmares that haunted them. 

However, that night was different. That night they fell asleep easily. They didn't toss or turn, didn't agonize for hours over things they could be doing instead of lying wide awake in bed. 

They didn't shiver at the cold drought that often blew through their apartment, seeping into their bones as the too thin duvets failed to protect them from the whispered grasp of night air. The warmth emanating from Martin's heated body, and simply being in the same bed as Martin, being so close to him and being able to stare at his light scattering of freckles as they slipped into sleep warmed their core.   
They never woke that night. Of course it was too hopeful to wish not for a nightmare but it was slightly more bearable when they woke, at an hour still early in the morning but which could be counted for a whole night of sleep. And they awoke with their head resting gently on Martin's chest, rising and falling with his sleepy breaths.

Taking great effort and care so as not to jostle Martin too much and cause him to wake at such an early hour in the morning when the heating had not yet kicked in and the flat was still chilly when not under the duvets and pressed against the heater of another person's body. Jon slipped out of bed, stretching as they stood. Holding onto the door frame as the rush of blood to their head caused their vision to swim with inky spots briefly they waited for it to pass then slipped out into the hallway and followed it through to the kitchen. 

Making sure that they were quiet as they looked around Martins kitchen to find what they needed. Luckily, Martin had a very large selection of teas so it was easy to find the box in which they were stored. Jon also found an equally expansive collection of mugs tucked away in one of the cupboards. A set of grey mugs were pushed to the back with ones showing pictures of fluffy cows or naturistic scenery standing upfront, obviously ones that he used the most. 

Jon set about making them both a cup of tea as quietly as they could. Having the premonition to know that if they made themselves a cup of tea then the sound of the kettle boiling would wake Martin so it was a good idea to make him a cup whilst they were at it. As predicted Martin walked into the kitchen just as the kettle clicked off and the whooshing of the boiling water faded. 

“I know it won’t be as good as yours but i had to do something to say thank you for letting me stay over.”

Jon smiled sheepishly as they handed Martin the cup with the picture of the fluffy cow standing in a field of grass. They cradled their own mug which had a simple drawing of a hill on it. 

“Oh, Thanks.” Martin took the mug and sipped at the hot tea. He smiled at Jon to reassure them that he enjoyed it. Truthfully it was a little weak but he really appreciated the gesture and didn’t want Jon to feel bad. 

“Um, there is a really nice cafe around the corner if you want to go and grab some pastries for breakfast?” Martin thought briefly about addressing the night before but looking at Jons hunched figure stood in his kitchen and decided against it, instead averting the topic to something he could talk about with some kind of assurance. 

\--

After wrapping up and braving once again the chilly winds Jon and Martin made their way to the cafe and ordered their breakfast. They both bundled into a small and cosy booth in the back corner of the cafe and removed some of their layers. 

They waited for their hot drinks and pastries in silence, minds still slightly numb from sleep, faces and hands numb from the cold of the streets outside. 

Once their food and drinks had been delivered and been partially eaten and drunk they had warmed enough to brave a conversation. 

“I think we should talk about last night?” Martin was the first to build up the courage to speak. 

“w-what about last night?” Jon was washed by a wave of nervousness at having to think about what they both said last night. Suffice to say the courage that led them to come out last night had slipped away from them and left them feeling helpless and worried. 

“Well about you, coming out to me. I just, had a few questions. If that's alright of course. Don't worry if you don't feel like answering them. I totally understand, you know, I've been through this myself and I know it's hard but,,” 

“Martin stop, your rambling.” Jon placed his hand over Martins on the table, hoping to ground him and make him focus on them. “I'll try and answer your questions. What do you want to know?” 

“Have.” Martin cleared his throat nervously “have you told anyone else?” 

“No one except my old girlfriend Georgie. She was actually the one that helped me figure it out.” Jon stared resolutely at the coffee stains on the table in front of them. 

Martin was still jittery with nerves but seemed to be helped by the grounding force of Jon's hand and the confidence and ease that Jon had answered his question so he more boldly he asked his second question “how did you work it out?” 

“Well, I just never really felt like a man. I didn't like it when people pointed it out. In college I had some friends and I just felt like I could never fully relate to them.”

Jon tried to look Martin in the eye, focusing on his face. Tracing his freckles that scattered across his cheeks with their eyes. “Georgie introduced me to quite a lot of people and a lot of them were gender non-conforming, trans and non-binary. She kind of opened up my view I guess. After I saw that I started experimenting more. When I was alone in our flat I would try on Georigies skirts or dresses, her makeup. I started growing my hair out to see how I liked it.”

“Georgie came home early once to me just walking around in an outfit that included one of her long skirts and so I kind of had to explain to her what I was doing. Of course she was super supportive and helped me try out different pronouns, eventually I landed on non-binary. She helped me alot with understanding myself.” 

Martin's small smile made Jon weak. “That's really nice. I'm happy that you had someone with you when you were going through that.” 

“Thanks. Did you have any more questions?” Jon's thumb rubbed gently over the back of Martins hand absently. 

“Do you think you're going to tell the others? At work. Of course you don't have to, and I won’t say anything to them, I promise.” Martin squeezed Jon’s hand feeling way more comfortable now than when he'd first started talking with his ramble. 

“I don’t know I mean, I'm pretty sure Tim and Sasha would be cool with it but it's just a big thing, it's who I am, and I don't think I'm as good friends with them as I am with you. I mean, maybe I should just hang out with them some more. Get to know them before I reveal everything about me.” 

“That sounds good, and hey I'll be here. Whatever you need. I can always help.” 

They smiled at each other, then realising that no more bearing of hearts is going to happen their hands fall apart and they turn back to cooling pastries and drinks. 

Luckily the small cafe was very near to the institute, and Martin and Jon had woken early enough that they weren't late to work that day. 

Of course Jon would have liked to have been early for work, but in time would do. And not being late meant that Elias wouldn't be on their back all day about it. 

Once into work Jon headed to the library to grab some statements and follow up done years ago. It also gave Martin and Jon a way to enter the archives separately, avoiding the inevitable gossip that would've come from Tim and Sasha. 

The rest of the day passed in reasonable normalcy. 

At one point Jon was walking to their office after discussing a statement with Tim when they heard Martin on the phone. They weren't sure who he was talking to but overheard him referring to them. 

A hot flush warmed their face when they heard Martin saying ‘Well, our head archivist Jon, they found some corroborating evidence and statements that backed up,,” 

They hurried back to their office before someone saw them, ear against a door, face painted red from hearing Martin use the right pronouns for them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for all of the love and Kudos!!  
> Cannot wait to write more of these idiots!

**Author's Note:**

> Please comment and tell me if you see any mistakes of course  
> Thank you for reading  
> Hopefully i will update this regularly, i'm not currently writing anything else so it should be.


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